New Report: Policy Options to Support Entrepreneurship

Posted by on February 24, 2006

Policy Options to Support Entrepreneurship Among Low-Income Americans
http://www.assetbuilding.org/AssetBuilding/Download_Docs/Doc_File_1380_1.pdf
Lisa Servon, Senior Research Fellow, Asset Building Program and Associate Professor and Acting Director, Community Development Research Center, New School University
November 2005

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Starting a business is a principal way for a select but significant number of low-income people to accumulate assets that give them a stake in society. On an individual level, self-employment can help people exit poverty and build wealth. On a community level, small businesses help to anchor communities and provide diverse goods and services that respond to local needs. However, low-income entrepreneurs are not well-served by either mainstream financial institutions or government programs. The diversity of these businesses and the people who operate them requires a range of policy tools to help them achieve their potential. 2) Create an alternative source of funding for small business and an incentive for saving 3) Remove the obstacles preventing lowincome people from pursuing self-employment 4) Help the Small Business Administration (SBA) better serve very small businesses 5) Maintain programs that currently assist microentrepreneurs.